


Word Stronger Than Bone, More Naked Than Flesh, More Sensitive Than Nerve - HypZag Month 2021

by reanimatorjuice



Series: HypZag Month 2021 [2]
Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, HypZag Month 2021 (Hades Video Game), Love Confessions, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, One Word Prompts, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29921700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reanimatorjuice/pseuds/reanimatorjuice
Summary: A multichapter fic hosting my submissions for each of the SFW prompts for HypZag Month 2021!Soft zagnos.... please....
Relationships: Hypnos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Series: HypZag Month 2021 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2196711
Kudos: 18





	1. Golden

**Author's Note:**

> “May I write words more naked than flesh,  
> stronger than bone, more resilient than  
> sinew, sensitive than nerve.”  
> ― Sappho, _If Not, Winter_
> 
> Title is based on this quote (clearly), though I said "word" (singular) because... love. It's love. I'm soft.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zagreus waxes poetic about Hypnos, his family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt one is here, lads!

Hypnos’s eyes were golden. 

Sure, an obvious observation, but one that took Zagreus an idiotically long time to fully understand -- the realization sending a shiver up his spine. Hypnos’s eyes were  _ golden.  _

__ He always looked Hypnos in the eyes when they spoke, and they’d known each other forever, but it wasn’t always that Zagreus was so…  _ enraptured  _ by them. 

They almost seemed to shine in the torchlight of the house. Zagreus thought Midas’s touch could never compare to his gold irises, as pure as the godly ichor that ran through Hypnos’s veins, two obols staring into Zagreus’s soul. He hoped Hypnos liked what he saw. 

Zagreus recalled the time they had gotten drunk on ambrosia together in his chambers. Zagreus was always a soft and clingy drunk. He recalled lifting the bottle to the light and swirling the forbidden liquid around, slurring that it reminded him of Hypnos’s eyes. Hypnos had looked at him, shocked, before his gaze turned fond. He’d leaned in for a kiss then. He tasted sweet. 

And when Zagreus awoke the next morning, those eyes like Aphrodite’s golden apple stared back at him, soft. 

When Zagreus had finally reached the surface, he’d stopped a moment to take in his first sunrise. He saw what must have been the sun, and all he could think about was Hypnos. How the star’s light glittering across the ocean reminded him of his partner’s eyes, how the warmth seeping in through the cold felt like being wrapped in Hypnos’s arms, and how he wished Hypnos were there to see this with him. 

Hypnos was so expressive. Zagreus delighted in how his eyes would light up when he was excited, or how they shone with love and happiness, how they glittered with mischief. Hypnos’s eyes  _ really  _ reminded him of the sunrise when they were filled with tears -- the iris the sun on the horizon and the pearlescent tears the shore. He hated to see Hypnos cry, as much as he hated to see him angry. 

At some point early in their relationship, Hypnos had given Zagreus his childhood toy as a companion -- a stuffed sheep with an eye mask that matched his own.  _ Oneiros,  _ it was called. He’d told Zagreus to call him when he needed him, and so Zagreus did. 

He’d expected Hypnos to pop into the battle, half-awake but cheery as ever as he snapped his fingers to put to sleep Zag’s foe long enough for him to retrieve his footing and gain the upper hand. 

Perhaps Hypnos had expected that, too, which is why Hypnos’s reaction seemed to surprise them both. 

Hypnos had appeared in the arena at Elysium in a plume of smoke similar to his brother’s yet with an eerie purple glow rather than green. He blinked in both surprise and the sudden bright light unlike that of the House of Hades. 

Those golden eyes made contact with his across the arena, and the crowd cheered at the sudden new player. Hypnos took in Zag’s bruises, scrapes, and stab wounds, and a hurt, angry look flashed across his face. It was one thing to read of Zag’s deaths on paper, but he’d never actually seen Zag  _ hurt  _ in person before. Zagreus looked like he could barely stand. 

Hypnos’s eyes sparked, starting to glow with power like the rivers of Asphodel as he turned his gaze to Theseus. His jaw clenched and he balled his fists before… smiling, tilting his head. 

“Theseus,” Hypnos greeted deceptively casually, “Asterius.” 

Asterius snorted, “Get out of here, little one. This isn’t your battle.” 

Theseus joked loudly, “What are you going to do,  _ worm?  _ Tuck me in? I have to laugh,” pointing his spear at Hypnos. 

Hypnos’s smile grew, “Is that any way to talk to a god? I owned half your lives on the surface, and I’m going to own you again…” 

Hypnos’s eyes blazed like molten metal as he raised a hand and snapped his fingers, Theseus and Asterius both growing weak and falling to their knees. 

“You… fiend….” Theseus slurred, collapsing to the ground. 

A shocked murmur swept through the crowd. Hypnos’s eyes settled back to normal, and he gave Zagreus a wink. “You’ve got ten seconds to recover, good luck. I love you,” and with that, he disappeared. 

Without Hypnos, Zagreus would have returned to the Styx far too early. Gods and mortals alike seemed to forget that Hypnos had put Zeus himself to sleep not once, but  _ twice.  _

And if Zagreus was feeling poetic -- which he was -- he’d say his eyes were as golden as their love was. 

It was beautiful and priceless, but also soft, easily malleable. 

The love of gods was deep, infinite, and eternal -- something no mortal would ever have the ability to comprehend, didn’t have the  _ capacity  _ to. The gods, unconstrained by mortal limits, could remember every millisecond of their lives and had all of time to make memories. 

Zagreus had an eternity to learn what made Hypnos laugh, where he liked to be touched, how he liked to be kissed, and he took his precious time. He’d known Hypnos all his life and knew him more intimately than anyone else. 

He saw those golden eyes in his dreams -- as the god of sleep, Zagreus wondered if Hypnos did that on purpose. 

And… and, after many mortal years had passed together, Hypnos made them a child. A daughter. 

He formed her from clouds and dreams, and she was given life as a gift from the Olympians. Strings were pulled, sure, but Zagreus was always in their favor.

Her eyes were gold like Hypnos’s, stark against the black sclera that Hypnos had designed to match the eye Zagreus had inherited from his father. When she’d opened her eyes for the first time, Zagreus was unashamed to admit that he’d cried. A little girl, shared with the love of his life. 

Her hair was black and curly -- another combined trait of her parents. Her skin was a pale periwinkle, and white freckles dotted her cheeks like stars. 

As she grew older, it was clear to them both that she would be the goddess of dreams. Their precious child. 

And she was worth more than gold. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this first entry!   
> I would've warned for the original female character, but I didn't want to spoil it. Oopsies :3c   
> Basically... I love Pasithea (personification of relaxation, hallucinations, and alternated states of consciousness) and Hypnos in mythology. They're so cute and chill together and I love their children, the most famously known being Morpheus, one of the Oneiroi and god of dreams. However, Pasithea ain't here. I didn't overwrite anything to make _Pasithea_ his daughter here though I was nervous to give her a name in the story. I was thinking Narkissa, which means "numbness, sleep" in Greek. I think.   
> Anyway, if you're 18+ I am writing the NSFW prompts as well, and have already posted prompt one. Check it out [here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29877831/chapters/73524660)


	2. Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hypnos needs comforting. Zagreus surprises him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Tags: first kiss, love confession, drunkenness, hurt/comfort
> 
> Wasn't _super_ satisfied with how short this one was (not that I'm a quantity over quality guy, I just think I wasn't able to convey the emotions as well as I could have with a longer fic. Head empty) but I hope it's enjoyable nonetheless!

They sat together in the poppy fields by Hypnos’s home in Elysium, resting under a tree by the River Lethe. They were drunk on ambrosia, lips tinted red from pomegranates. 

Zagreus watched the river flow, and heard Hypnos sigh next to him. He looked up at his friend at that. 

“Do you remember,” Hypnos slurred, “When I lost my wing? When we were children?” 

Zagreus nodded, confused as to where this was going. 

“Mom-- Mother Nyx hadn’t been there. Than found me, Charon patched me up, but it was you that comforted me, remember that?” 

Zagreus swallowed, nodding again. 

Hypnos sighed, dipping in and twirling a finger through the memories that flowed down the river. “You’ve always been there for me when no one else has. I don’t know if I’ve thanked you for that.” 

Zagreus shook his head quickly, resting a hand on Hypnos’s shoulder. 

“I do it without the expectation of thanks. I do it because I care about you.” 

Hypnos looked away, seeming to suddenly be fascinated with picking apart a blooming poppy bud by his feet, crushing the petals that had yet to see the light with his fingers. 

“Sometimes I wonder why…” he said softly. 

“Why what?” 

Hypnos shook his head, quiet for a few moments before sighing. 

“Why you care,” he whispered, voice cracking. “My own family hates me. Mom won’t talk to me, Than only does to reprimand me, and I don’t even see Charon anymore. I know what the others think of me in the House, too. Sometimes I wonder if you just talk to me to be nice because no one else will.” 

Hypnos still wouldn’t look at Zagreus, but his voice and shoulders were shaking by the end. 

Oh… Hypnos was a _sad_ drunk. 

“Hypnos…” Zagreus trailed off, unsure of what to do. He might be about to say something very stupid, but hell, he was drunk and Hypnos was too but he was also sad and Zagreus had to _fix it_ and-- “I love you. You know that, right? I need you to know that.” 

There it was. The three words Zagreus had been meaning to say for ages but never felt it was the right time. That got Hypnos’s attention -- his head whipping around, tears streaming down his face. 

“You’re lying,” he sobbed, breath hitching. His hands were bunched up in his skirt, worrying the fabric. 

Zagreus’s face fell. “I’m not. Why would I lie? I’m not spending time with Than right now, or Meg, or Dusa. I’m here with _you._ Because I love you.”

Hypnos stared at him, his face growing hopeful. “Really?” he whimpered. 

“I love you,” Zagreus affirmed, “I always have, and I always will.” 

A smile slowly spread wide across Hypnos’s face. New tears formed, but this time those of joy. He hugged Zag, knocking him to the ground with an “ _oof_.” 

“I love you…” he whispered, pressing their foreheads together and kissing him, lips trembling. It tasted like ambrosia and tears. 

They deepened the kiss, Zagreus reaching up to cup Hypnos’s cheek. He flipped them over so that Hypnos was on the ground and he’s above him, kissing him once and twice more. “I love you… I love you…” between kisses. 


End file.
